Woman Seeking: February Empties

February was a long month. It was cold, it was snowy, and it was windy. For only being 28 days, it’s the longest feeling month I’ve experienced in a minute. I’m so happy to be moving into March. For now, here are my thoughts on the products I managed to use up this month.



Yes to Carrots Lip Butter in Sweet Fig – I am so on the fence as to how to review this. I loved this for a few weeks. The smell is unique and nice, and I felt like it was decently hydrating. I have to throw this out, though, because it is like…melting. Just like real butter. I feel like it is a product meant to be sold in a jar, but the company tried to put it in a tube to make it more marketable since many people don’t like jars? I’m completely making that up and have no idea if that did or did not happen, but it’s confusing. I’m actually going to depot this into an empty jar I have and see if I can get some more use out of it that way so it’s not a total loss. Not sure if that makes this really count as am empty? But either way, I won’t repurchase since it’s a good but average lip balm, and not worth deporting and such every single time. 



Bare Essentials Handi Buki brush – I have had this brush for so long. It is OLD. It seems like it’s still a sturdy brush, but I think it just needs to go for hygenic reasons (I got this way before I knew or cared about brush maintenance). The bristles are starting to break and fall out a bit anyways. It was a great brush, but for some reason I’m never very interested in even looking at more brushes from this brand. I won’t be repurchasing. 



Johnson’s No More Tangles Detangling Spray – I’ve been buying this for yearsss, but lately I’ve felt like this just wasn’t doing anything for me. I have fine, thin hair, and in the past a couple sprays of this left my hair so easy to comb through and smelling wonderful, but this time I felt like I was putting water in my hair. I’m not sure if they changed the formula or what. I won’t be repurchasing it, sadly. 



Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Fortifying Conditioner – I expected this conditioner to be a little too heavy for my hair, and actually don’t really know why I bought it, but I am SO glad I did. I think it’s my favorite conditioner out of any conditioner I’ve ever used. It’s cheap, it’s thick, and it conditions without ever weighing down my hair or leaving me looking or feeling greasy. And the smell! I have no idea how to describe it but it smells so good. I never used it this way, but I also think this is one of those conditioners you could leave in extra long and use as a deep conditioning hair mask as well. I actually didn’t pick this up when I went to the store, because it was sold out and I had a coupon for the store I was at, so I just bought the conditioner that was supposed to go along with the shampoo I was purchasing. Biggest regret ever. As soon as I can get through this bottle of average conditioner (to be fair it doesn’t suck, it simply just isn’t as good) I will buy the Garnier again. 



Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser – This is one of two cleansers I always fall back on. It cleans without over drying, and the price is right. For more info on skincare and cleansers, checkout Part One of my Skincare Series from January, Cleansers & Exfoliants, here. 



Too Faced Cocoa Powder Foundation in Light Medium – I received a sample of this powder with an order, and got two uses out of it before it was gone. I never used this alone, but instead used it over my liquid foundation and BB cream as more of a setting powder. While I didn’t hate it, I don’t think it was anything special. I have other powders that give the exact same results. I will not purchase a full size of this, but if this was a sample choice on a future order, I would pick it simply because it did set my face well, and samples like this are perfect for traveling. 



Marc Jacobs Honey – This is just a little sample, and I have at least two more sample vials of this because for a while there beauty stores were handing this out like candy, but I’m ok with it because this smells really nice. I’m a huge fan of Marc Jacobs fragrances in general, though oddly I don’t own any bottles or ever rollerballs of any of his scents. I would purchase this in the future. 



Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs & Rosewater – Yet another bottle of this in an empties post. I love this stuff. I didn’t repurchase because I have a small stash of this built up that I need to use before I buy more, but I definitely will be repurchasing when the time comes. 



Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Moisture Extreme Body Buttercream – I’ve never used Soap & Glory body products before, although I love their foot cream, so I was excited to use this sample. There was enough in the packet to easily use on both of my legs, which is were I usually use body butters or thicker lotions. This was such a nice lotion. It went on easily and sank it, but I could still feel it on my legs. Not in a greasy way, just in an “oh my gosh my legs are so hydrated and soft” way. It’s thick, but the texture is somewhat a whipped texture, which is really interesting! It smells heavily of lime, but not like lime in a margarita, as it’s a bit more sweet than that. Perhaps Key Lime Pie? Soap & Glory I think is known for their unique scents, so it’s hard for me to describe. I’m personally not a huge fan of the scent, and would pick another type of this lotion of it was available (it’s not). But I would use this if someone gave it to me. This lotion has made me interested in other body creams from this brand, and although technically I’m not sure if I would repurchase this, I’m going to say I will simply because I really loved this, and the only thing holding me back is a personal preference regarding the scent!



Mario Badescu Special Cleansing Lotion “C” – Hated this. Straight up. It smells awful, it’s super strong, and it’s a higher maintenance cleansing lotion (aka toner) than any other kind I’ve used. Ok…all you have to do is shake the bottle so the sediment at the bottom mixes with the liquid, but still. Love MB products but every line has its weak spot, and for me, this is it. 



Batiste Dry Shampoo in Blush – I wanted to try Batiste dry shampoo because I’ve heard great things about it, but it’s fairly pricy so I picked up the travel size. For me, this lived up to the hype. It comes in a variety of scents and it leaves my hair looking normal whether it’s day two or even three of not washing, which is impressive because my hair is so fine and thin that it can look almost wet when not washed for three days without this. It does make my hair matte, because of the powder, but I expect that from any dry shampoo and it doesn’t bother me. If I need a little shine I use some Aussie Hi Shine Hairspray on top, or a little oil on my ends. This didn’t agitate my scalp at all either, which was a big worry for me. Heads up, the spray is pretty intense. I would suggest a test spray so you understand how forcefully it comes out before spraying it on your hair. I would also caution those with dark hair, because even with my light hair I had to make sure this was properly absorbed and rubbed in so I didn’t get a weird powdery grey look. I feel like those with darker hair might have a rough time unless they used this the night before. I’ve seen they have one for blondes, brunettes, and redheads….but I’ve also only read negative reviews on them (the color transfers). I have repurchased this in two scents, Blush and my absolute favorite scent: Wild. 



St. Ives Timeless Skin Collagen Elastin Moisturizer – This product took me FOREVER to finish! I have been using it for months as a night cream and all over body lotion. I go into detail about it in Part Two of my Skincare Series, Hydration, which you can find here. I’m not 100% sure I’m going to repurchase, but it is a solid product. 



Tree Hut Shea Sugar Scrub in Hawaiian Kukui – This stuff has become my all time favorite body scrub. It left my skin feeling so soft and smooth every time I used it, but it wasn’t too harsh that it left my skin red or my hands raw. It is also surprisingly hydrating! I even tried using this before self tanning, and although there are oils in it to help soften, my self tanner went on smoothly with no patchiness in sight. And the smell! It is kind of warm, kind of sensual, but although fairly fragrant, it’s not overwhelmingly scented. I have no idea what Hawaiian Kukui is, but I love it! They do make this in a few other scents, including fruit scented ones and one that smells like coffee to me. Definitely going to repurchase. 



Nexxus Therappe Ultimate Moisture Shampoo – I first tried this a few years ago, and I couldn’t remember if it was effective or not, only that I loved the smell, so I picked up this trial size to be safe. I still looove the smell, it reminds me of summer and the beach and the pool, but it wasn’t my favorite as far as actual shampoo goes. I may try this again in the summer to see if it works with my summer hair, but it always made me want to rinse and repeat, or use along with another shampoo in order to feel really clean. Which bummed me out because that left me feeling like I over cleaned my hair (I dislike squeaky clean hair!). Since this alone wasn’t enough and using it twice or two shampoos was too much, I usually just omitted this and used a different shampoo all by itself. I’d catagorize this in the will not repurchase file, even though I might try it again in the summer. 



GlamGlow BrightMud Eye Treatment – While this brand is pretty hyped about, this was another ho-hum product for me. While I need feel a slight tingling and cooling sensation, I disliked the large chunks of…I don’t even know what. It doesn’t make sense to pure foliage style pieces in something meant for the delicate eye area. It heave treatments do feel nice, but there are other, chunklessnproducts out there that feel just as nice. I will not be repurchasing. 

And that’s it! I finished a few big bottle products this past month, which is always nice, as well as knocked out a few samples. Some things were awesome and are now part of my staple collection, others I’m glad to see go. Did you find any new favorites among your February empties? 

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XOXO, WSM